Rams Finish Up Rookie Minicamp ..

Posted by nickwagoner on May 12, 2012 – 6:30 PM

- The Rams just got off the practice field for Saturday’s final rookie minicamp practice. Coach Jeff Fisher was pleased with how his group got oriented to the way he wants things done and said everything went smoothly.

- Now, the rookies will have a few more meetings this afternoon before calling it a camp. On Sunday, they will be headed to the Cardinals game to watch the Redbirds take on the Braves. Then, back to work on Monday in anticipation of the Tuesday arrival of the veterans for the beginning of OTAs. That’s when the real fun begins.

- In the meantime, Fisher was happy with what was accomplished the past couple of days…

“We basically saw what we expected to see out there,” Fisher said. “We’ve got a long way to go, a lot of improvement to make. But I was pleasantly surprised with how they were able to absorb all the information and bring it to the practice field.”

- K Greg Zuerlein and punter Johnny Hekker didn’t do much kicking at all this weekend. Fisher said he wanted them to get some mechanical work before they started booting balls. That will likely happen at the upcoming OTAs.

- A few quick second day impressions from this camp:

One player the media will certainly be rooting for (and you would too if you got to meet him) is LSU G T-Bob Hebert. Talk about charisma. Hebert charmed the local media for about 10 minutes in an interview after practice, discussing his cajun roots and some of the misunderstanding that occurred because he doesn’t have the Cajun background of his family (he spent most of his childhood in Georgia). In one childhood story, Hebert’s grandfather said to him “Grabbabat” (not sure how to spell the cajun version). Hebert asked his grandfather multiple times what he was saying before he went out to his garage and got a baseball bat. When he returned, he was informed that he was supposed to be taking a bath.

On the field, it appears the Rams might have a pair of promising young safeties in Duke’s Matt Daniels and Virginia’s Rodney McLeod. Both continued to look the part in Saturday’s practice making good reads and getting to the ball. They actually complement each other quite well. Daniels is a big, physical player with a knack for hard hits. McLeod is an athlete who can cover ground on the back end. Keep an eye on these two.

Tip of the cap to Daniels, too. He’s heading back to Durham to graduate with his class tomorrow with a degree in Public Policy. He has designs on a political career when he’s done with football (which might not be for awhile).

WR Brian Quick might not have made as many flashy plays on Saturday as he did on Friday but he was better in some ways, according to Fisher. He said Quick “settled down” some and Quick was again smooth and solid running routes and catching passes.

Not much changed from yesterday in terms of the cornerbacks. Both Trumaine Johnson and Janoris Jenkins again looked smooth and polished in passing drills. Expect that to become a familiar refrain.

Watched the Rams work a number of players on punt return and many of them looked capable. Not sure if they’ll want to use him there if he’s starting but Jenkins absolutely looks like a natural returner. Even if it doesn’t become his permanent job, he’d merit getting the occasional chance back there because he seems to have the juice to bring a dynamic element in the return game.

QB Austin Davis had a solid first weekend. Fisher was pleased with his performance. Davis was a bit scattershot on Friday but seemed to be settled and more accurate on Saturday.

Another sleeper to keep an eye on: WR Nick Johnson of Henderson State. He is quick and had a nice day Saturday.

Still hard to glean much if anything from the two lines without pads and hitting.

We’ll know a lot more this coming week when the veterans return. Will be interesting to see how the rookies stack up then. Still a long way to go for this group to prove itself.

Re: Rams Finish Up Rookie Minicamp ..

Re: Rams Finish Up Rookie Minicamp ..

On the field, it appears the Rams might have a pair of promising young safeties in Duke’s Matt Daniels and Virginia’s Rodney McLeod. Both continued to look the part in Saturday’s practice making good reads and getting to the ball. They actually complement each other quite well. Daniels is a big, physical player with a knack for hard hits. McLeod is an athlete who can cover ground on the back end. Keep an eye on these two.

I'm not saying it's "gonna" happen, just that it would be pretty cool if the starting secondary, in a couple of years, is:

"Before the gates of excellence the high gods have placed sweat; long is the road thereto and rough and steep at first; but when the heights are reached, then there is ease, though grievously hard in the winning." --- Hesiod